Born originally in New Haven, Conn., assistant professor of Spanish Megan Kelly grew up in a small suburb north of New Haven, containing approximately 22,000 people. Kelly painted a picture of her childhood growing up alongside two younger brothers that she grew very close to as well as two loving parents. As a child, she loved to play outside with her siblings and describes herself as a very involved student by the time she got older.
Kelly detailed how she got in touch with her more creative side in her childhood by getting involved in activities that had a lot to do with performing. From the time she was four up until she was 18, Kelly took dance lessons in tap, ballet and jazz. The stage had become a familiar scene for her, as she was a part of a number of theatre performances. As a dedicated flute player, Kelly participated in her school’s concert band both in middle school and high school.
“I liked making art, and I liked being a part of a group of people who were making something for an audience,” Kelly said.
She explained how these activities, being on stage and in front of an audience allows people to gain a new sense of confidence.
Recalling the sensations and array of emotions she felt before getting on the stage, she cannot help but laugh at the memories.
“Oh, it’s like that typical nightmare that you have. There is a lot of excitement along with some anxiety, but I felt like in the moment the excitement took me along and it became fun,” she said.
When she was in 6th grade, Kelly spent that entire year exploring which language, between Spanish, Italian and French would best suit her. During this time, Kelly thought of her father, who had studied Spanish in high school and college.
She recalled that his job had hired him because he could speak Spanish, and this thought stayed in the back of her mind. Through the process of learning Spanish when she was in seventh grade, she found that the language came naturally to her.
By the time she began her time at the University of Connecticut, Kelly mentioned how she was faced with the unique and exciting opportunity to study abroad and immerse herself in a Spanish-speaking culture.
Young but eager to learn, Kelly decided to study abroad in Granada, Spain where she lived with a wonderful host family with four children between the ages of 18 and 27.
Time abroad in Granada was a pivotal time for Kelly, since it allowed her to gain skills in Spanish and connect her with people from all over the world, simply by just knowing how to communicate in a different language.
“I started to see that having this language, gets me in touch with people. And that’s what I really liked,” Kelly said.
Kelly continued her Spanish at graduate school, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she was exposed to a different approach: the communicative approach of Spanish. Kelly explained that this approach is teaching students to learn the language to then use the language to express themselves.
Kelly started out at Susquehanna teaching Spanish classes as a tenure-track assistant professor. Originally, she had been teaching as an assistant professor at Augustana College, a small Liberal Arts college much like Susquehanna. Kelly had been in search of a tenure track position that comes with stability and more opportunities to teach different things.
Susquehanna’s philosophy on teaching languages attracted Kelly as well as Susquehanna’s offerings to study abroad, which reminded her of her time abroad and how that was a period of integral change in her life.
“I almost couldn’t believe that a school would require that all students have this cultural experience. I loved that and wanted to get involved in that,” Kelly stated.
One of the aspects Kelly most enjoys about teaching Spanish at Susquehanna is working with the students. She described how she loves working with students in 100-level classes because the progression that students make from starting in August to May astounds her.
“I become very proud of the students who make their way through it because it is not easy learning another language,” she said. Previous students who have taken classes with Kelly can attest to her dedication to the classroom and helping students improve their abilities along with making the material enticing.
Senior Spanish major Alex Graul shed light on how Kelly’s teaching had positively affected him.
“For me, her positive energy and kindness helped me to participate in class. I wasn’t scared to make a mistake and if I did, she would correct me in a subtle way that didn’t make me feel stupid,” he said.
According to Graul, Kelly was the one who encouraged him to take on a Spanish major, which is something to this day he is still grateful for since she gave him that extra push.
“She always gives great feedback on your work. She makes Spanish fun; her PowerPoints were always creative and engaging. I always felt like I could connect to the material she was covering,” senior Spanish major Kara Eckert said.
Eckert also said that Kelly made the classroom environment an overall positive experience, which made her want to continue on her path of learning Spanish.
Spanish professor Greg Severyn also commented on Kelly’s work ethic as a professional and who she is personally. Severyn stated that she is a sincere person and always has a genuine interest in her colleagues.
He also shared that Kelly has a sense of enthusiasm and is quite supportive.
“In a professional sense, I think she has a lot of rigor and is very thorough. She raises the level of education in the whole department, and as a colleague, she always looks at ideas from different angles,” Severyn said.
